Binance vs Coinbase: Fees, Coins, Safety Comparison

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When you want to get started with cryptocurrency trading, one of the first things you need to consider is which crypto exchange you'll use. When you do a simple internet search, you'll probably see that many sites and traders recommend Binance.

It's easy to see why when you consider that Binance is the leading cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume. However, the American cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, is catching up with its competitors in many ways. As such it shares many of Binance’s features. So, which is better?

Fortunately, we're here to help. At Traders Union, our experts have compared these two crypto exchanges based on 11 key criteria. As a result, we've given each exchange an overall rating based on these parameters. This, in turn, helps traders to make the best choice for their specific needs.

With that in mind, let's take a look at how Binance and Coinbase compare.

Binance vs Coinbase: Ranking

To start off, let's look at their overall ratings based on the key criteria mentioned above. Based on this overall rating, you'll see that Binance is rated better by a small margin. However, it’s clear that they're quite evenly matched with Binance performing better in some instances, while Coinbase performs better in others.

Feature Binance Coinbase

Overall

4.6

4.2

Regulation

2.1

4.3

Fees

4.7

3.5

Trading Assets

5

4.4

Investment Instruments

4.7

3.7

Platforms and Charting Tools

4.9

3.6

Margin Rates

4.8

3.5

Deposit and Withdrawal

4.7

3.8

Research

4.6

4.1

Education

4.8

4.8

Support

4.8

4.8

Promo

4.2

4.8

Considering the above scores, let's now look at each of these crypto exchanges and key criteria in more detail.

Binance vs Coinbase: A Brief Introduction

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. In fact, it holds the top spot when you consider indicators like daily turnover, the number of active users, liquidity, and web traffic. It also has its own native asset that you can trade in.

American exchange Coinbase is also popular, especially amongst novice traders. Like many other exchanges, it also allows you to trade in all the popular cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and others. Although smaller than Binance, it still has over 43 million active traders in 100 countries.

As mentioned above, these crypto exchanges are quite similar, there are, however, some pros and cons that you'll need to consider with both.

Binance and Coinbase Pros and Cons
Binance Coinbase

Overall Pros

Trading With Leverage up to 1:20

2 FA Authentication

Low Trading and Non-Trading Fees

Low Minimum Deposit

3 Account Fiat Currencies + 50 Crypto

Passive Income With Staking

Derivatives, NFT, ETF Available

By studying courses you can get cryptocurrency

Debit/Credit Card Withdrawal Fee – 0%

Indicators Available

Passive Income With Staking and Mining Pool

Strong Research

Overall Cons

No Regulation

Max Leverage – 1:1

No Demo Account

1 Account Fiat Currency + 6 Crypto

High Trading and Non-Trading Fees

Indicators Not Available

Derivatives, NFT, ETF Not Available

Binance vs Coinbase: Regulation

Regulated By: Binance Coinbase

SEC

No

No

FINRA

No

No

SIPC Protection

No

No

Other Regulators

No

Regulated in 45 States in the USA

As you can see from the table above, Binance is not regulated by any regulators. In contrast, Coinbase is licensed and regulated in 45 states in the US. Why is regulation important? It's simple, when you invest your hard-earned money into a platform you want to know that it's safe.

Being regulated means that there are certain safeguards in place to ensure that your money is protected. Keep in mind, though, that both of these are large crypto exchanges, and the likelihood of your money disappearing is very small. Yet, regulation gives you that extra peace of mind.

Binance vs Coinbase: Trading Conditions

Trading Conditions Binance Coinbase

Minimum Deposit

$1

$25

Trading Platforms

Binance

Coinbase

Leverage

1:20

1:1

Number of Markets

1,358

248

Number of Trading Accounts

1

1

Base Account Currencies

USD, EUR, GBP + 50 Crypto

USD + 6 Crypto

Binance has far more markets you can trade in, offers more base account currencies, and makes trading with higher leverage possible. Simply put, this gives you more options. Although, depending on your goals, needs, and requirements, this isn't necessarily a deal-breaker, it is something you should consider. This is more so over the long-term as you get more experience and want to trade with more assets.

Binance vs Coinbase: Trading Assets

Asset Name Binance Coinbase

Bitcoin (BTC)

Yes

Yes

Litecoin (LTC)

Yes

Yes

Dogecoin (DOGE)

Yes

Yes

Binance Coin (BNB)

Yes

Yes

Uniswap (UNI)

Yes

Yes

Ripple (XRP)

Yes

Yes

Polkadot (DOT)

Yes

Yes

Cardano (ADA)

Yes

Yes

Stellar (XLM)

Yes

Yes

IOTA (MIOTA)

Yes

Yes

Tron (TRX)

Yes

Yes

Derivatives

Yes

No

Futures

Yes

No

NFT

Yes

No

ETF

Yes

No

As mentioned above, having more options is beneficial when you want to trade with more instruments, especially when you get more experience. Coinbase, although it allows you to trade in all the major cryptocurrencies, doesn't offer you the opportunity to trade with derivatives, futures, NFTs, or ETFs.

Binance vs Coinbase: Fees

A crucial part of choosing the right exchange is considering the fees you’ll pay. Typically, these fees include trading fees and non-trading fees and can have a substantial impact on the profit you're able to make.

With that in mind, let's look at how Binance and Coinbase compare.

Trading Fees

Fee Binance Coinbase

Max Maker

0.1%

0.5%

Max Taker

0.1%

0.5%

Min Maker

0.012%

0.04%

Min Taker

0.024%

0%

Debit/Credit Card Purchase Fee

1%

3.99%

Trading in cryptocurrencies is not free and you'll have to pay a fee for every trade you make. Depending on the specific trade and the circumstances, you'll either have to pay a maker or a taker fee. Generally, Binance is cheaper in respect of both maker and taker fees. Also, it's a lot cheaper than Coinbase when you buy cryptocurrencies with your debit or credit card.

Non-Trading Fees

Binance Coinbase

Account Fee

0%

0%

Deposit Fee

0%

0%

Bank Transfer Withdrawal Fee

1.5 USD

1.49%

Debit/Credit Card Withdrawal Fee

0%

3.99%

Inactivity Fee

0%

0%

Non-trading fees are typically the fees you pay to have an account with an exchange and any fees for deposits and withdrawals. Here, Binance is also cheaper and charges no account, inactivity, deposit, or debit or credit card withdrawal fees.

In contrast, although Coinbase doesn't charge account, deposit, or inactivity fees, it does charge a debit or credit card withdrawal fee of 3.99% on the amount withdrawn. It also charges a bank transfer withdrawal fee of 1.49% which is higher than that of Binance.

Binance vs Coinbase: Margin Rates

Feature Binance Coinbase

Max for BTC (changing)

0.05%

2%

Min for BTC

0.04%

2%

Number of Levelsr

10

1

Margin trading is when you buy cryptocurrencies or other instruments with borrowed money. Now, just like any other loan, you’ll have to pay interest on the amount you borrow. Here, you'll see that Binance is also a lot cheaper than Coinbase.

Binance vs Coinbase: Passive Income Tools

Investment Tools Name Binance Coinbase

Staking

Yes

Yes

Mining Pool

Yes

No

Managed Accounts

No

No

MAM/PAMM

No

No

Other

No

No

When trading cryptocurrencies you don't necessarily want to sit in front of your computer screen the entire day to spot opportunities, make trades, and earn a profit. That's why you need to look at whether the exchange you're considering offers passive income tools.

With these tools, you're able to invest money and earn a profit on it just like you would earn interest on a typical investment or bank account. When it comes to passive income tools, both Binance and Coinbase offer staking. This simply means that your cryptocurrency is used to secure and verify all transactions on the blockchain through a consensus mechanism called “Proof of Stake.” In turn, you receive a reward for this.

Binance does, however, offer a mining pool as an additional passive income tool while Coinbase doesn't.

Best Trading Platform: Binance or Coinbase

Another thing you should consider when choosing the right crypto exchange is the trading platform that it offers. You’ll specifically need to look at its security features, the platforms you can use it on, and the tools it includes. Keep in mind, though, that, depending on your needs goals, skills, and experience, you might not need all the tools that a platform offers.

To start off, here you can see that, although both platforms offer web trading and mobile apps, only Binance offers a desktop platform.

Binance Coinbase

Web

Yes

Yes

Desktop

Yes

No

Mobile (Android, iOS)

Yes

Yes

Trading Platform Features

Binance Coinbase

SMS Based 2 FA

Yes

Yes

App Based 2 FA

Yes

Yes

Voice Call 2 FA

No

Yes

Search Bar

Yes

Yes

Filters

Yes

Yes

When it comes to security and other features, you can see that both platforms are evenly matched with only Coinbase offering an additional security feature in the form of voice call two-factor authentication.

Technical Analysis/Charting Tools

Binance Coinbase

Indicators

19

0

Drawing Tools

0

0

Historical Trades

Yes

Yes

Live 2 Quotes

Yes

Yes

Technical analysis plays a vital role in cryptocurrency trading and when you use it, you’ll be able to predict price movements, spot trends easier and find trading opportunities quicker. Here, Binance makes it easier by offering a variety of indicators that you can use.

Mobile Trading

Features Binance Coinbase

iOS Version

Yes

Yes

Android Version

Yes

Yes

Apple Watch App

No

No

Touch ID

No

No

Face ID

No

No

To make trading on the go easier, both platforms offer iOS and Android versions of their app which means you can trade wherever you are.

Types of Orders

Binance Coinbase

Market

Yes

Yes

Limit

Yes

Yes

Stop Loss

Yes

Yes

Stop Limit

Yes

No

Trailing Stop

Yes

No

In respect of the different types of orders, both platforms are evenly matched, with Binance offering both stop limit orders and trailing stop orders in addition to the market, limit, and stop loss orders that Coinbase offers. Although not strictly necessary to trade, these orders can help you manage your risk and increase your chances of making a profit.

For example, let's say you buy a specific cryptocurrency when it trades at $20, and you place a stop loss at $15. This means you won't lose more than $5 if it happens to go down in price. But it also means that it could increase at some stage during the day and then fall back to $15 which then limits the profit you could have made.

With a trailing stop, your stop loss will follow the price increase. So, if you're trailing stop is set at $5 and the price goes up to $30 before falling back, your stop loss will now be at $25 which means you'll still make a $5 profit.

Binance vs Coinbase: Deposit and Withdrawal

Deposit and Withdrawal Method Binance Coinbase

Bank Transfer

Yes

Yes

Credit/Debit Card

Yes

Yes

Electronic Wallets

Yes

Yes

Crypto

Yes

Yes

As you can see, when it comes to deposits and withdrawals both platforms offer you a variety of ways to deposit and withdraw your funds.

Binance vs Coinbase: Research

Research Type Binance Coinbase

News Feed

Yes

Yes

Fundamental Data

Yes

Yes

Chart Analysis

Yes

No

Trading Ideas

No

No

E-Mail Reports

Yes

No

Research is a crucial part of cryptocurrency trading. To be successful and spot opportunities when trading, you'll need to keep up to date with daily cryptocurrency news and the fundamental data relating to the specific cryptocurrency you want to trade.

Here, both platforms provide you with a news feed and fundamental data. However, Binance also gives you email reports and chart analysis to make things a bit easier.

Binance vs Coinbase: Education

Education Type Binance Coinbase

Demo-account/Paper Trading

No

No

Courses

Yes

Yes

Articles

Yes

Yes

Videos

Yes

Yes

Webinars

Yes

No

Books

No

No

When you start trading there are a lot of things that you need to learn and master. So, it's crucial that you take a look at the educational tools that an exchange provides. Here, both Binance and Coinbase offer courses, articles, and videos. In addition, Binance also offers regular webinars that help you on your trading journey.

Binance US vs Coinbase: Support

Support Features Binance Coinbase

Working Days

24/7

24/7

E-mail

Yes

Yes

Phone

Yes

Yes

Online chat

Yes

Yes

Other

Telegram

No

When it comes to support, both platforms are evenly matched, with Binance offering an additional support channel through Telegram. Despite this, both platforms offer comprehensive 24/7 support through phone, email, and chat.

Binance vs Coinbase: Promo

Promo Binance Coinbase

Special Offers

No

Up to $35 for learning how specific cryptocurrencies work

Referral Program

40% of the partner's trading commissions

$10 when your friend completes a buy or sell of $100

Both Binance and Coinbase offer referral programs with varying rewards. However, when it comes to promotions, Coinbase offers a unique feature. It gives you the opportunity to learn about specific, qualifying cryptocurrencies and you’ll get paid in the specific cryptocurrency for learning about it.

Binance or Coinbase: Which Exchange is Actually Better in 2024?

So, which exchange is actually better in 2023? Well, considering that Binance offers more tools, more trading assets, and lower fees, it might be better. That's also why it achieved a slightly higher overall score in our comparison. In contrast, Coinbase offers the benefit of regulation and a unique learning feature that you should consider.

You need to keep in mind that, depending on your specific goals and requirements, you might not need all the training assets and tools. Ultimately, it's these goals and requirements that will dictate the crypto exchange you choose.

Coinbase vs Binance: Which Exchange is Better for Newbies?

When you're a newbie, Coinbase might be the exchange to go for. Although it offers slightly less features than Binance, its unique learning feature that enables you to earn cryptocurrencies while you learn can be very helpful.

Also, because it has fewer trading instruments and markets to trade in, it can reduce information overload and make trading easier for learners.

Which Exchange is Better for Day Trading?

When day trading, you rely on technical analysis and charting tools extensively to capitalize on small price movements throughout the day. Because Binance offers more technical analysis and charting tools than Coinbase, it’s the obvious choice when you want to start day trading.

Coinbase vs Binance: Which Exchange is Actually Cheaper?

When it comes to pricing, Binance is far cheaper than Coinbase. It's not only cheaper in respect of trading fees, but also in respect of non-trading fees and margin rates.

Binance vs Coinbase: Which Free Exchange is Better for Margin Trading?

When it comes to margin trading, there’s simply no comparison. Binance offers leverage up to 1:20 while Coinbase only offers leverage up to 1:1. Also, as mentioned earlier, Binance’s margin rates are a lot lower.

Coinbase vs Binance: Choice of Trading Assets

Binance is the clear winner when it comes to the choice of trading assets. It offers over 1,300 markets to trade in, a wide range of crypto assets, and the option of trading in derivatives, futures, NFTs, and ETFs.

Summary

When you want to start trading in cryptocurrencies you need to find the right crypto exchange for your specific goals, needs, and requirements. You’ll therefore need to carefully consider the pros and cons of each exchange, what it offers, and its pricing.

Hopefully, this post helped illustrate the difference between two of the most popular crypto exchanges, Binance and Coinbase. Although, based on the scores in this comparison, Binance has come out on top, Coinbase is certainly worth a look.

FAQs

To give you more information about crypto exchanges, we’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions that people often have.

Do I need an exchange to trade cryptocurrencies?

Yes, you do need an exchange. At its core, an exchange allows you to exchange your local currency to your cryptocurrency of choice. Without it, you won’t be able to trade.

Can’t I just use any crypto exchange?

Technically you can, but you’ll need to make sure that your money is safe and that the exchange offers the tools and features you need based on your specific needs and requirements.

Is regulation important?

Although cryptocurrencies, to a large extent, aren’t regulated, regulation can offer you some peace of mind that your money is safe.

Binance isn’t regulated, is it still a good idea?

Although, as stated above, regulation does give you some peace of mind, it isn’t strictly necessary. Also, keep in mind that Binance is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, so you can be reasonably sure that your money is safe.

Team that worked on the article

Johnathan Maverick
Financial Markets Expert

Johnathan M. is a U.S.-based writer and investor, a contributor to the Traders Union website. His two primary areas of expertise include finance and investing (specifically, forex and commodity trading) and religion/spirituality/meditation.

His experience includes writing articles for Investopedia.com, being the head writer for the Steve Pomeranz Show, a personal finance radio program on NPR. Johnathan is also an active currency (forex) trader, with over 20 years of investing experience.

Knows about
Forex, commodity trading, investing

Experience
Johnathan has been doing freelance writing – primarily on finance, small business, and investing – for over 20 years. He has ghostwritten several books, including complete guides to forex trading, spiritual autobiographies, and a book on cosmetic dentistry. He has also done a lot of editing and proofreading work (the Corporate Finance Institute hired him to edit over 2,000 existing articles on its website). In addition, he has published one novel – "A Cross of Hearts" (available on Amazon).

Johnathan’s experience includes writing 5-10 articles per week for Investopedia.com for about two years, and being the head writer for the Steve Pomeranz Show, a personal finance radio program on NPR. He is an active currency (forex) trader, with over 20 years of investing experience, having worked as a broker, financial advisor, and personal investing tutor. He has written literally thousands of articles and blog posts on an extremely wide variety of subjects, including virtually every conceivable investing/trading topic.

Education
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Bachelor of Science (BS), Psychology

Olga Shendetskaya
Author and editor at Traders Union

Olga Shendetskaya has been a part of the Traders Union team as an author, editor and proofreader since 2017. Since 2020, Shendetskaya has been the assistant chief editor of the website of Traders Union, an international association of traders. She has over 10 years of experience of working with economic and financial texts. In the period of 2017-2020, Olga has worked as a journalist and editor of laftNews news agency, economic and financial news sections. At the moment, Olga is a part of the team of top industry experts involved in creation of educational articles in finance and investment, overseeing their writing and publication on the Traders Union website.

Olga has extensive experience in writing and editing articles about the specifics of working in the Forex market, cryptocurrency market, stock exchanges and also in the segment of financial investment in general. This level of expertise allows Olga to create unique and comprehensive articles, describing complex investment mechanisms in a simple and accessible way for traders of any level.

Olga’s motto: Do well and you’ll be well!

Mirjan Hipolito
Cryptocurrency and stock expert

Mirjan Hipolito is a journalist and news editor at Traders Union. She is an expert crypto writer with five years of experience in the financial markets. Her specialties are daily market news, price predictions, and Initial Coin Offerings (ICO). Mirjan is a cryptocurrency and stock trader. This deep understanding of the finance sector allows her to create informative and engaging content that helps readers easily navigate the complexities of the crypto world.